law

It turns out that the security features on the iPhone are so robust, that police are unable to decrypt them in order to gain access to possibly crucial information on suspects' devices. This has led to federal agencies getting a hold of Apple in order to decrypt iPhones for them, but it turns out that so many devices are being requested for decryption, that Apple had to make a waiting list.

The ongoing legal battle between Apple and Samsung is heating up yet again. This time around, Apple is turning to Google and has requested that they hand over various Android source code documents. Apple claims that Google is withholding information relating to Android, and says that Android is used in all of Samsung’s infringing products, which "provides much of the accused functionality."

In an effort to slowly cut ties with various gun and weapon manufacturers, it's reported that Electronic Arts will stop paying gun makers for the privilege of using real gun names in their video games, but will still continue to use real names without paying for the naming rights, saying that they retain the right to depict real guns without a license.

In a growing list of various locales that Google Glass has already been banned before its public release, casinos are starting to add on to that list. Caesers Palace in Las Vegas is the first major casino to prohibit Google Glass from being worn on the gambling floor to prevent cheating during casino games.

The White House has hired its first ever chief privacy officer, and the the person to take the helm for the first time is Twitter's legal director Nicole Wong, who has over a decade of experience dealing with both copyright and privacy law. The appointment of a chief privacy officer comes at a curious time, when a handful of privacy bills are trying to make their way through Congress.

Just under one year ago, the story of a $1 million dollar Tyrannosaurus Rex made its way across newslines due to its rarity and the fact that it'd been stolen from Mongolia. Fast forward to now and this Tarbosaurus Bataar thunder lizard is finally headed back to its home, the until-recently holder of this collection of fossils headed to court with a collection of charges against him. Eric Prokopi is not having a good day today.

Makers of the Opera web browser have sued a former employee claiming that he took the trade secrets that was given at Opera and used them at Mozilla, the company behind the popular Firefox web browser. The man being accused, Trond Werner Hansen, left Opera in 2006, but returned in 2009 and 2010 as a consultant.

The controversial CISPA bill recently passed through the House of Representatives with flying colors, and it's now in the Senate, where it will then be passed on to the President if the bill passes in the Senate. However, many groups and organizations are almost positive that the bill will be vetoed in the Senate, including the American Civil Liberties Union.

Google released its seventh transparency report today, which highlights the number of takedown requests that Google receives on a bi-yearly basis. This time around, Google received 2,285 government requests to remove 24,179 pieces of content off of Google's search engine between July 2012 and December 2012, which is a record high.

Apple has been ordered by a Chinese court to compensate three Chinese writers for infringing their copyrights. Apple made the authors' books available in iBooks without first seeking their permission. The Cupertino-based company will have to pay up 730,000 Yuan ($118,000) to the three writers for copyright infringement.

In an effort to update the FCC's long-running Lifeline program that helps put telephone access in low-income homes, a new piece of legislation has been introduced to the House of Representatives that would aim to give low-income homes the opportunity for unsubsidized broadband internet access.

After being squashed in the Senate last year, the CISPA bill has made a reappearance in the House of Representatives once again, and it passed with flying colors. The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, as it's called, passed in the House by a majority vote of 288 to 127. It's now on to the Senate to get a yea or nay.